NAS recommendation?

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mikerussellnz

283 posts

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#1015455 30-Mar-2014 16:46

I have a Qnap TS-212 for home use, if all you care about is file sharing, it is fine 45mb/s file copy isn't bad.

I do hate the new bloated web interface though (iPad UI clone). Most of the "station" features are too slow or don't work. Turn them all off to reduce load.

They are slow with samba updates, I am running beta 4.1 firmware just to get SMB2 support.

MackinNZ

450 posts

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#1015462 30-Mar-2014 17:05

mikerussellnz: They are slow with samba updates, I am running beta 4.1 firmware just to get SMB2 support.

SMB2 support is in the 4.0.x firmware but not turned on by default.

jarledb

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#1015469 30-Mar-2014 17:24

JimmyH:
I was looking at QNAP, but their models seem to be either underpowered or (for the larger ones) overpriced. The pricing on most NAS units in NZ seems broadly comparable to what you pay for the same unit in Oz etc, except for QNAP where the difference seems huge.

Have been looking at prices for a new 5-disk bay for my Synology D1512+, and the prices in NZ is around 990 NZD, in the US that same unit cost only 575 NZD (Plus shipping and GST). So there is a big difference, and it could be worth the money to look at importing from the US or UK.

Plan is to populate with 4x4 WD Red drives in RAID5 (for 12TB usable with some fault tolerance).

If the data is really important to you (and not often backed up to other systems) it could be worth it to set it up as a RAID 6, where the RAID should survive a 2 disk failure. The rebuilding of a RAID could loose you more than the disk that already failed since its a fairly heavy procedure on the disks...

Just remember, while RAID allows for some fault tolerance with drive failures - it isn't a backup strategy on its own! If you are storing business/irreplaceable files then you need a NAS with backup capability and a good backup strategy, and ensure that you stick to that strategy. I would suggest a minimum of at least two backup sets, on rotation using either USB drives or tape, with one of the sets kept offsite.

In these days of cloud storage, it could be worth it looking at offsite backups to the cloud. I am using a service that costs 6 USD a month for unlimited storage (and is not stored in the US) per unit. I am currently storing backups of all my important files from my computer and the RAID there (500 GB). Bandwidth could be a problem with a cloud solution of course, but its nice to know that I have a current backup always stored off site is something should happen.

The cloud storage is http://www.jottacloud.com/prices/

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ArcticSilver

731 posts

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#1015486 30-Mar-2014 17:55

I would buy a Asustor 302T with 2x2WD Red drives pre-installed.

I sell these to my clients, with HDD's installed for just under $1,000. They are great value for money.

If you are looking at spending less, then use cloud storage, or another computer you can sync your data with. In the end, you get what you pay for.

tukapa1

753 posts

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#1015774 31-Mar-2014 06:52

After initially building my own and running FreeNAS I decided it was too noisy, chewed too much power and was too big.

So I went for one of these and haven't looked back. Don't even know it's running and it has been faultless.

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